Editorial: India, Pratt & Whitney play 'Let's Make a Deal'

The logo for Pratt & Whitney is featured prominently on the company's East Hartford campus.

America’s improved relationship with India will soon pay big dividends in Western New England.

In a development that comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s highly successful trip to India, Pratt & Whitney announced it has reached a $1 billion deal to manufacture jet engines for 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport planes that the Indian military is buying from Boeing Aircraft.

Although Pratt & Whitney is located in East Hartford, the deal is big economic news for the Springfield area because hundreds of Pratt employees live in Massachusetts. There’s an added bonus, because Pratt affiliate, Hamilton Sundstrand in Windsor Locks, manufactures the control systems for those engines. That company also employs a large number of Western Massachusetts residents.

Besides the obvious benefits for Western New England, the deal is just another reminder of how India has become a major trading partner with the U.S. Between 2002 and 2009, U.S. exports to India have increased from $4.1 billion to $16.4 billion.

And the deal for the C-17s, was just one of the nearly $15 billion in deals announced during Obama’s trip.

“This is a win-win situation for the United States and India, increasing our trade and economic relations for years to come,” said U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-Conn.

We agree, and we’re glad that India is becoming one of America’s major trading partners. With its 1.1 billion-plus citizens and a fast-growing middle class, India will be buying more and more of our products in the years to come.

America makes some of the world’s best airplanes. India recognizes that, and as Monty Hall would say, “Let’s make a deal.”